E-commerce: How to improve your conversion rate !

E-commerce has grown dramatically over the past few years. However, competition between businesses has also been increasing in order to cope with consumer demands and volatility.

Paybox is so much more than a technical gateway, as we have been involved in e-commerce for 12 years and developed solutions and services that enable the payment process, conversion rate and loyalty of online shoppers to be optimised.

In practical terms, how does Paybox help to optimise your conversion rate?

·Payment process optimisation and reducing the number of clicks needed

At Paybox, most of the payment page is easy to personalise in the layout of e-commerce website (pictograms, buttons, logos, colours, CSS stylesheets) with any additional costs. The March 2011 issue looked at this topic in greater depth click here

The number of clicks is also a key issue. The forced technical call on the Paybox platform, which involves displaying the payment method pictogram directly on the website when the customer reaches the checkout stage, is a significant step towards making the process of accessing the payment data entry page more fluid.The payment interface is available in eight languages (other languages can also be added).

Remember to develop the entire payment process and take advantage of the shopper returning to your website (immediate post-payment return) by thanking them for their custom or by explaining why their card has been refused and potentially suggesting an alternative, without having to go through an intermediary page provided by your payment operator. Finally, if your website is optimised for mobile devices, Paybox offers a specially formatted page for Smartphones.

·Apart from the standard bankcards, add alternative payment methods

Offering your customers the option of paying with other payment methods that they use (virtual wallets, credit cards, online finance solutions, gift cards and prepaid cards, e-vouchers and coupons, electronic kitties etc) increases the chance of converting their visits into sales and also makes you stand out from the competition.

Paybox offers you some thirty pre-integrated payment methods that can be activated on request. (See the article published in October 2011 click here)

·Opt for a smart fraud management solution

Merchants should not miss out on legitimate sales because of an overly restrictive fraud management system.

Paybox enables merchants to enjoy the benefits of 3D Secure only on selected transactions. The merchant can therefore take charge and decide not to activate 3DS. Equally, the merchant can decide to use it above a certain amount, for a given product or service, and also depending on the customer’s geographical location.

Acceptance and rejection rulescan be put in place (country IP codes, card country codes, the same card being used repeatedly).

·Offer payment-related services

Adopt two-stage transaction processingand promote debit on dispatch to your clients. This is key to building customer trust.

Paybox also allows you to offer 2X and 3X bank card payment facilities without any fees. You can supplement this system with online finance solutions in partnership with credit providers.If your business allows it, offer your customers easy purchasing using the one click technique for which the details of their payment method are stored at Paybox (Plus version).

Finally, the issue of refund management is all too often neglected, even though it is key to customer satisfaction and loyalty. Paybox therefore enable you to easily and securely manage full and partial refunds both manually via the Back Office interface and from server-to-server for high volumes.

·Don’t forget foreign businessThe payment pages are available in eight languages and a multi-currency convertor is natively available on Paybox.

Transactions in currencies other than the Euro can also be processed at no additional cost (52 currencies are available). However, you first need to obtain the agreement of your acquirer bank.

For some countries, you must accept local payment methods (local cards and online transfers, for example) in addition to Visa and MasterCard. PayPal can fill this gap but if you start to generate a significant amount of business, we strongly recommend that you integrate these payment methods to meet your clients' needs and facilitate the payment process.

·Make use of data and develop a marketing vision of your transactions

Paybox provides you with a lot of information to combat fraud enabling you to:

·Set up a database of email addresses

·Find out the geographical origin of your clients and the type of payment method used·Check your conversion rate (payments accepted and denied)